Trio of Scots girls make the grade for British team at World University Summer Games

Three women attending Scottish universities have been selected to play for Britain’s female football team in Taipei, Taiwan, in the World University Summer Games 2017.

The competition, which begins in August 19, occurs every two years and the British team will be sending 163 athletes to take part in 11 varied sports. These sporting events include: archery, athletics, golf, men’s water polo, men’s weightlifting, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, women’s football, women’s water polo and women’s weightlifting.

Britain submitted a squad full of 20 players for the World University Summer Games including Demi-Lee Falconer (University of Stirling), Katy Morris (University of Stirling) and Kirsty Howat (University of Edinburgh). Scottish coach Grant Scott is also a member of the management team for the women’s football as assistant coach. Grant was head coach of the Scottish Student Team that won the Home Nations tournament in April 2017.

Falconer is a defender who attends the University of Stirling. She also played for Murieston United at Under 17s level. There Falconer enjoyed great success, including an emphatic victory in the 2012 Scottish Cup final against Glasgow Girls. Falconer also won the Heart’s First Team Players’ Player of the Year in 2014.

Also coming from the University of Stirling is midfielder Katy Morris. Together Falconer and Morris were part of the University of Stirling team who won the British Universities Women’s Cup final both Morris and Falconer scored in a resounding 8-0 win.

The third and final student at a Scottish university being called up for the woman’s football squad is striker Kirsty Howat. Howat has been described as a striker who will score goals wherever she plays and that has certainly been the case in her youth career. Howat enjoyed much success when she played and scored in Rangers 17s victory in the 2013 17s SWF West League Cup Final against rivals Celtic. Later in 2016, Howat signed for Celtic and plays for them alongside her studying at the University of Edinburgh. In the Home Nations tournament, Howat scored to take Scotland to penalties with England from 1-0 down and also dispactched her attempt from the spot as Scotland went on to win the tournament.